Web talk

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:05 pm

The unseen by me AP stylebook might cover it, but I am I alone in thinking it's wrong to write ''log on to xxx.com for futher information''? Log on to me conjures up thoughts of sign-ons and passwords.

Jackie · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:14 pm

I may be wrong, but i don't like it either. I also don't like "go on the Web to..." Not everybody has a computer and is up on geekspeak.

Peter Sibley · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:28 pm

The act of logging on involves entering information necessary for beginning a Web-site visit. You type in a password, in other words. Some sites require one, but most don't."Visit" and "go to" are both apt metaphors for what the reader is being invited to do.

andreaa · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:37 pm

Certainly you can visit a website without logging on to anything. I'd agree that "visit" is the best choice. And I think that the a url is so recognizable and ubiquitous now that even those who don't have computers have learned that anything constructed www. or http// or xxx.com means they'll have to use one to access that stuff, and I wouldn't say that any of the above (or log on, for that matter) is any longer considered geekspeak. Kids do C++ in Kindergarten.

EditThis · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:52 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Andrea Avery:
Kids do C++ in Kindergarten.<hr></blockquote>Hmph. Tell that to the preschool director that just told me my son is behind because he can't write his name. I say how many 4-year-olds can type 30 wpm? But apparently it's not good enough that he's been hunting and pecking his name since he was 2; he has to write it.This is what happens when a copy editor and a network engineer mate.

Jackie · **Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 11:15 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Andrea Avery:
.... I wouldn't say that any of the above (or log on, for that matter) is any longer considered geekspeak. Kids do C++ in Kindergarten.<hr></blockquote>But a lot of their grandparents and great-grandparents don't.

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:55 am

I'll go ahead and say it in so many words: One logs on to the Internet. One visits or goes to a Web site. And when one visits a Web site that requires a password, one logs in, not on.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:37 pm

Mr Grieco. You are a sensible gent. On this one we disagree.[Edited for punctuation by poster][ August 11, 2004: Message edited by: Paul Wiggins ]

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:29 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Peter Sibley:
"Visit" and "go to" are both apt metaphors for what the reader is being invited to do.<hr></blockquote>Do we "visit" a newspaper, magazine, book or broadcast? If we're talking endline text, I don't see why a verb is necessary. An AP-style "On the Net:" (or "Online:" or "Internet:") followed by the URL, works just fine.

EMorse · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:36 pm

... unless the reference is in text, in which a verb usually is needed. I don't see what's wrong, though, with saying "[whatever content] is available at [url=http://www.whatever.com."]www.whatever.com."[/url] or something like that.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:16 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Oeditpus Rex:
Do we "visit" a newspaper, magazine, book or broadcast? If we're talking endline text, I don't see why a verb is necessary. An AP-style "On the Net:" (or "Online:" or "Internet:") followed by the URL, works just fine.<hr></blockquote>We read., read, read, and watch or listen as a reasonable person such as yourself who understands the values of verbs knows. [Sorry if that sounds snarky Oed, it ain't].

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:37 pm

One can also read a website, of course. But I would call the act of clicking on the link to bring it up "visiting" or "going to."I certainly would never use the word "log," with any preposition, except when a password or other indentifying information is entered. I doubt many computer experts would do so, either. As the son of a programmer, I find that "log on to our website" grates on my ears horribly.

hound · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:58 pm

...which raises the interesting metaphysical concept of something being 'on' eBay (as distinct from 'buying something 'on eBay') - this is part of the dynamic language, of course, and I 'fess up to not minding buying or selling 'on eBay' nearly as much as waiting for the eBayed item 'to ship' (to reprise an older bugaboo of mine; no item will ever 'ship' - it will 'be shipped'!!!!)I note that this is not entirely academic - the DemoChron site (Rochester, NY) presently has this hed: Renaissance Fest for sale on eBay pointing to this story this story[ August 11, 2004: Message edited by: hound ]

andreaa · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:45 pm

Hmmm. "On" eBay. Aren't things "on" the market?[ August 11, 2004: Message edited by: Andrea Avery ]

hound · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:18 pm

Yes, IBM shares trade "on" the NYSE (a real place) and Intel trades "on" NASDAQ (a virtual place.) But you don't go 'on' the market to buy them (unless you log "on" to your Fidelity account to trade "on"line). In the old days you would call your broker who would place the trade for you (perhaps while you were still "on the phone" with him.) The share prices are quoted "at market".I note that you log-"IN" (and "off") to the TCE site (whoops - almost said "TCE" and not "the TCE site" there..)For the geek contingent out there, I note that Windows, Unix and Linux all have a standard prompt of "login" and not "logon".

Jackie · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:52 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Andrea Avery:
Hmmm. "On" eBay. Aren't things "on" the market?
<hr></blockquote>For what (very little) it's worth, eBay's commercials refer to "on eBay."

andreaa · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 6:25 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by hound:
Yes, IBM shares trade "on" the NYSE (a real place) and Intel trades "on" NASDAQ (a virtual place.) But you don't go 'on' the market to buy them (unless you log "on" to your Fidelity account to trade "on"line). In the old days you would call your broker who would place the trade for you (perhaps while you were still "on the phone" with him.) The share prices are quoted "at market".I note that you log-"IN" (and "off") to the TCE site (whoops - almost said "TCE" and not "the TCE site" there..)For the geek contingent out there, I note that Windows, Unix and Linux all have a standard prompt of "login" and not "logon".<hr></blockquote>
You had a lot of fun writing that, huh? Anyway, you'll certainly agree that something that is available for sale in a marketplace either physical or virtual is "on" the market, no? So if eBay is a virtual marketplace, couldn't the items there be "on" eBay? Is there some rule that says you have to refer to all virtual marketplaces the same way, or can't we just accept if you're looking for a vintage Lite Brite, you'll likely find it "on" eBay? And you won't have to call your "broker" to "place" the order for you, either.

lbukowski · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 7:32 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by hound:
[QB]Renaissance Fest for sale on eBay [QB]<hr></blockquote>The Renaissance fairgrounds will be sold??? I just discovered that place last weekend, and it was so much fun! Humph - it probably will go to some developer who'll clear-cut all the trees and put up condos.As for the web question, I agree with "visit" or "go to". That's what we have in our internal style manual.

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